Lost Maples Natural Area
Fall foliage at Lost Maples State Natural Area.
The Wounded Tree


    God dropped a beautiful picture into my mind last night about a wounded tree.  To get sweet maple syrup, an individual will drill a hole into a mature hardwood maple tree during February or March when the temperature begins to reach about 45 degrees during the day time.  It is at this time that the pressure of the sap starts to build up in the tree.  A spout is tapped into the hole and immediately sweet maple sap begins to run out.  The sap is then heated to concentrate it and it forms an expensive and desired, sweet, maple syrup.

maple sap     The Scripture pictures Jesus as the Tree of Life.  Jesus, the good tree, is like the wounded maple tree.  When Jesus was crucified, a spear was jabbed up under his ribcage and blood and water came out.  It is a physical picture of a heart that is ruptured.  It is a picture of Jesus being wounded that all the sweetness of the precious grace of God might be poured out.

    However, the picture doesn't stop there.  We also are to be the good tree.  By faith in Jesus as our personal Lord, we also are to be the good tree with the life of Jesus living in us.  As we mature and are wounded as the maple tree, the sweet sap of God's grace is to flow out of us.  It is to be for the benefit and pleasure of others.


 Tree Of Life:

"And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil"  (Genesis 2:9).

"She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her"  (Proverbs 3:18). Jesus is pictured as "wisdom".

"The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise"  (Proverbs 11:30).

"A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit"  (Proverbs 15:4).

"He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God"  (Revelation 2:7).

"In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations"  (Revelation 22:2).

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me"  (John 14:6).

Suffering of Jesus:

"But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water"  (John 19:34).

"Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed"  (Isaiah 53:4-5).

"Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand"  (Isaiah 53:10).

"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed"  (I Peter 2:24).

"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"  (Romans 8:32).

Man as a tree:


"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper"  (Psalms 1:1-3).

"Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit" (Matthew 7:17-18).

"Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit"  (Matthew 12:33).

"In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water"  (John 7:37-38).

"But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life"  (John 4:14).

"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.  For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ"  (II Corinthians 1:3-5).

Warning:

"Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit" (Matthew 7:17-18).

"Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit"  (Matthew 12:33).

The Mesquite Tree     There is another tree that lives in the West Texas area where I live that is called the Mesquite tree.  It is a thorny, snarled, and crooked tree.  It provides but little shade and saps a large amount of water out of the ground stealing it away from other plants.  Although a few people use it to make rustic furniture, it is commonly used for the less expensive fireword.

    The tree's sap is not very eatible and also it sticks on anything that touches it. The Mesquite tree could be a picture of the evil tree.  

     Wounded people often are thorny and wound others. The bitterness that flows out of them as sap often sticks to those that it touches.

The real question is, "Does the sweetness of Jesus flow out of us when we are wounded or is it the bitterness of the world which sticks to the people it touches?"  
Note:  The bigtooth maple trees pictured in the above photo and can be used for making maple syrup.   

Emotional Wounds Menu